Can opener



Dec. 3, 1929.

M. D. GIIBSON 1,737,713

CAN OPENER Filed Feb. 14. 1927 Patented Dec. 3, 1929 UNlTE STATES PATENT OFFICE CAN OPENER Application filed February 14, 1927.

This invention relates to can openers. It has for its objects to produce a simple and efficient tool which will cut out the head of a can close up to the annular marginal portion thereof neatly and with a relatively clean cut so as to leave no dangerously jagged edge; to produce a device which may be manipulated either in a right or left handed manner; to minimize the cost of manufacture; and to attain certain advantages as will hereinafter more fully appear. I

The invention consists in a novel arrangement of bifurcated cutter comprising a cooperating pair of double-edged cutting blades one of which functions as a guide while the other is operating as a cutter and either blade being thus operable at will. It further consists in the pecular form and'arrangement of the associated parts cooperating with said blades and in the general structure in the combinations and arrangements as hereinafter specified and afterwards pointed out with particularity in the appended claims.

In the accompanying drawings illustrating practical adaptations of the invention,-

Figure 1 is a side view of one construction of the tool;

Figure 2 is a similar View taken at right angles to that shown in Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a face view of one of the cutting blades and cooperatin spacing member having the shank portion to which the operating handle is attachable;

Figure 4 is an edge view of the two cutting 3 blades, spacing member and rivets detached to show the details thereof;

Figure 5 is a side view of a modified structure; and

Figure 6 is a similar view of said modification taken at right angles to that shown in Figure 5.

Referring now more particularly to Figures 1 to 4, inclusive, of the drawings, the numeral 1 designates the handle member of the tool which may be of any desirable form and of any suitable material. That shown indicates a plain wooden handle having the usual ferrule 2 at its end in which is inserted the tapered shank portion 3 of a filler or spac- Serial No. 168,048.

ing member 4, which letter, as shown, is of rectangular, fiat, plate-like body.

The member 4 is composed of relatively hard metal or a metal which is specially tempered or casehardened so as to prevent wearing away of the sharp forward corners 5 A thereof which have a special function as will presently more fully appear. 7

Secured on opposite sides of the member 4 are the rectangular base portions 6 of the cutting blades 7 which are rigidly held in place by rivets 8 or by other suitable means. The base portions 6 are wider and longer than the body portion of the filler or spacing member 4 so that the forward and side marginal portions of the former overhang the correspondin marginal portions of the latter and thereby produce channels 9,10, respectively (see Figures 1, 2 and 3 of the drawings). The thickness of the member 4 is such that the channels 9, 10, are of a width between walls so as to straddle the usual annular marginal bead which is formed in heading the average regular cans.

The cutting blade portions proper 7 are ,lenticular and preferably as illustrated, that is to say, the curvilinear double convex cutting edges 11 thereof are intersecting arcs extending from restricted necks at the bases of the blades and producing the pointed outer ends 12, and said cutting edges may be sharpened either by bevelling from one face only,

or from both faces of the blade, as may be desired, but preferably in the latter manner as shown in the drawings.

In Figure 5 and 6 of the drawings is shown a modification of the structure in which the same blade elements are employed as in the structure just above described, but in place of the filler or spacing element 4 and the associated handle member 1, a handle 13 is formed of a strip of sheet metal which is rebent or looped back upon itself (see Figure 6), roundingly at its outer end, as at 14, and its meeting inner end portions 15 being brought together flatwise and having the blade elements riveted thereon in the same manner as said elements are secured on the filler or. spacing element 4 first above described. 1

blades 7 is forced endwise into the head of the can close to the periphery thereof, the opposite blade being outside of the can, of course, and as the puncture is made in the head, the channel portion 9 of the tool will straddle the marginal head of the can. Then, by rocking the tool rearward from the direction in which it travels in making the cut, through the leverage afforded by the handle 1 or'13,'with the corner 5 of the filler rocking motion of the handle at the comp letion of the cutting operation, so' thatfsaid corner portion 5 may take a new hold on the bead at a pointahead from where it last engaged it, andthis reciprocatory actuation of the tool is continued until a circuit of the can head is made. In this way'the can head is cut out cleanlyand neatly up close to the side wall all around and leaving no jagged inwardly projecting ledge to interfere with the removal of the contents of the can or injure the hand of the user.

From the foregoing description and illustrations in the drawings, it is readily apparent that a tool is produced which is simple and inexpensive to manufacture, yet it is highly efficient and possessesmany advantages. One particular advantage lies in the fact that the tool may beusedeither right or left handed'and that it may be picked up at random for use in that both blades are identical and double edged, and either blade can be used as the cutter while the other works on the outside of the can and serves as a guide and also works in conjunction with the channel portion' 9 to-hold the cutting blade close to the wall on theinside of the can. So, too, by having the two cooperating blades in the bifurcated arrangement shown and each with double cutting edges four outting edges are "afforded which, obviously, prolongs the life and 'usefiilness of'the'tool and makes it practically unnecessary to ever lesharpen the cutting edges, and in any case makes the tool useful for a considerably longer time than if it had only one cutting edge.

The invention comprehends and embraces broadly a bifurcated arrangement of cutting blades, preferably double edged, either blade acting as the cutter and the other as a guide. It is, therefore, not limited to the specific structures shown in the accompanying drawings, as many other'inodiiications in the construction and arrangement of the tool may be made and substituted for those shown without in the least departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims,

l/Vhat is claimed is; w r

1. In a can opener, a substantially rectangular spacing member whose two forward corners afford relatively sharpfulcrum points, and a pair of cooperating like cutting bladeinembers having substantially rectangular base portions'of greater width and length so as to extend marginal-1y beyond the side and forward edges of said spacing member and being secured on oppdsite sides of said spacing member and having lenticular cutting portions proper extending forward from said spacing member-and flaring apart from each other towards their ends.

2. Ina can opener, a-handlemember, a spacing port-ion at the end thereof, the two forward corners of said spacing portion being substantially right angular. and affording opposed relatively sharp fulcrum points, and a )air of like cutting blade members having ase portions respectively secured onopposite sides of said spacing portion and projecting marginally beyond the end and side edges of said spacing portion whereby to provide guide channels in correlation to said fulcrum points, said blade members having forwardly extending cutting portions provided with double convex curvilinear cuttingedges convergingto a point at the outer ends of the blades.

3. In a can opener, a substantially rec tangular spacing member'whose twojforward corners afford, relatively sharp fulcrum points, a pair of likecutting blade members having substantially rectangular base portions secured cooperatively on oppgsitesides of said spacing member and having projecting marginal portions affording guides for'said fulcrum points along thefmarginal' bead of a can liead,"said blade member n ing forwardly extendingv cutting po provided withdouble convexjf'cur'yilinear Teut- :ting edges diverging from a restricted neck atjthe baseand thence'converging td a point "at the outer endlof thbla'de.

MARSHALL DI GIBSON. 

